While the development of Let’s Go to the Movies was basically linear – selecting songs, writing arrangements, then recording / mixing / mastering – one step that did occur in parallel was developing the artwork for the album. And to work on the cover art, it first definitely helps to have a title.
Actually, finalizing the title for this album was pretty straightforward, especially with the theme determined (songs from movies) and the first song in place (Just Go to the Movies). Almost from the beginning, this album was titled Let’s Go to the Movies – and what better way to invite people into the album than with artwork that put my name up in lights.
Thanks to flickr, I was able to find an image that fit this concept to a T. After a little processing in Photoshop (and some Google searches to help remember how to properly add perspective to text), it was my name up on the marquee at the Paramount Theater.
With the songs completed and the artwork done, all that was left was some administrative work. All of the songs on the album are covers (they were written by someone else), so it’s necessary to secure a license from the copyright owners before publishing. And to make the songs available on a streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music, you need to work with a music distributor (you can’t just upload songs to those streaming services directly).
Fortunately, Soundrop makes it easy (and inexpensive) to combine these two steps. Basically, you upload the release version of each song, add some background information (eg. names of the composer and lyricist, the original performer, etc.), indicate the order the songs should appear on the album, and add the album title and art. Then, you indicate the services (Spotify, Apple Music, Facebook, TicToc) where you’d like the album to appear and provide a release date. A few dollars and a few days later, the licenses are secured, the songs have been transferred to the streaming companies, and the countdown is on to release day.
Looking back on the entire process, it’s hard to believe all that was involved – in total, the planning, development, and publishing of this album took just about a full year. My only hope is that you enjoy listening to these songs as much as I enjoyed putting this album together.
Let’s Go to the Movies releases September 1 on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and all major streaming services.